13 Moments That Show How The BBC's Biggest Star Is Also Its Brashest

Getty / Hannah Johnston
Whether he's tying a dead cow to the roof of his car or donning a burka to avoid publicity in Syria, the BBC's Jeremy Clarkson is someone who enjoys flirting with the controversial.

He called Gordon Brown a "one-eyed Scottish idiot"

Clarkson described then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a "on-eyed Scottish idiot" while on tour in Australia in 2009 (Brown is blind in one eye).

The remark caused offense to a charity for the blind that claimed the remark was insensitive to the visually impaired.

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He called Americans fat

In a 2010 episode of Top Gear Clarkson appeared surprised to find an American among his audience.

He accused her of being a fake, because she wasn't fat enough.

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He broke the UK smoking ban on camera

In 2007 Clarkson broke UK law on air by smoking inside. Admittedly, he was smoking tobacco out of a pipe designed by Porsche, making the actions somewhat relevant to his television show. He still incurred complaints from anti-smoking campaigners.

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He drank a gin and tonic while driving to the North Pole

The Top Gear host was criticized in 2008 when he and co-host James May decided to have a gin and tonic while driving to the North Pole.

The two were branded as irresponsible and deplored for glamorizing drink driving.

The episode also featured a picture of a frozen penis. If you want to watch it, you can find it here.

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He attacked a car built in a jungle

Clarkson annoyed Malaysian manufacturers in 2007 when he attack the Perodua Kelisa.

It wasn't the fact that he attacked the car with a sledge hammer before blowing it up that upset the manufacturers, more that he said the vehicle was probably built in the jungle by people who wear leaves for shoes (unfortunately not shown in the video).

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He joked about how he could "murder a prostitute."

Truck drivers and the British public weren't particularly happy in 2008 with this job description...

What made Clarkson's joke worse though was the fact that a British forklift truck driver was jailed for killing five prostitutes earlier that year. Slightly bad taste.

He joked about the Nazi invasion of Poland

Clarkson got into a whole heap of trouble after he made a Nazi salute and mocked the BMW M6's sat-nav in 2005. The presenter joked that the navigation system would only lead the German car to Poland.

The BBC dealt with the complaints about the episode by censoring the program. Such is the censorship that clips of the episode on YouTube containing the joke have been removed!

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He told a rude story about women in burkas

Clarkson landed in hot water when he joked about a Muslim woman wearing sexy lingerie underneath a burka in the summer of 2010.

The remark was made during a discussion about attractive female drivers distracting Top Gear's hosts while driving.

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"The Mexican embassy...won't complain, it's fine."

Early this year, after Clarkson's co-host described Mexicans as being "feckless" and "lazy" Top Gear's main man said that Mexico wouldn't complain about the stereotype because the country's UK ambassador would be doing nothing more than sitting in front of a TV asleep.

Unfortunately for Clarkson, Mexico did complain.

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He joked about eating whales, puffins and seals

Whale meat
aSIMULAtor on flickr

In an appearance on British trivia show QI in 2006, Clarkson wowed his fellow contestants by telling them what he'd had for dinner the week before.

So, what had been on the menu? A seal's flipper followed by puffin, grated on whale meat.